[ASL4] Grand Finals Flash vs Hero - Page 33
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Shady Sands
United States4021 Posts
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Letmelose
Korea (South)3227 Posts
On November 17 2017 11:52 Caladbolg wrote: Haven't logged in forever. But I'm happy Flash won, and that Bisu is in such good form! Now while I really like these posts by Letmelose, I do think he's underestimating Bisu's flashiness (pun intended) in terms of micro especially with difficult-to-micro units such as Dragoons. And of course, Probe micro will forever be a Bisu signature move. As well as Sair-DT. And these moments, while not exactly massive battles (more like extended skirmishes), make or break games. I mean, even just dodging scourge well is something I've seen Bisu do more consistently than any other protoss. + Show Spoiler + https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leU4lyVFCD0 But lest I be misunderstood, I do agree that Stork is the better micro player. His reaver play is just so beautiful. I just don't think Bisu loses too much in that department to him or to Jangbi. Or maybe my point is, he is just as enjoyable to watch as the other two in terms of micro, though his strengths are with different units. PS: Also, Light TvZ micro was such a delight to watch I would agree that Bisu is indeed better than any other protoss players when it comes to niche micro-management abilities such as initial probe harassment, early zealot harassment, mid-game dark templar harassment, and corsair management. However, note that most these micro-management moves are difficult to replicate due to the heavy multi-tasking demands they put on the user, not actual frustration of maneuvering these units by itself. There's a reason why Bisu was often categorized as the unorthodox protoss, due to his match-up preferences, and mastery of micro-management not necessarily associated with more classical skill-based protoss players. Dragoons are quite cumbersome in their movements, and I would agree that it is a pure micro-management art-form of keeping them in check. free is a virtuoso in that regard, and is proficient at both small scale skirmishing involving dragoons, as well as more large scale battles. While Bisu has his fair share of epic small scale dragoon micro-management highlights, it is almost of a right of passage to be recognized as an elite protoss player in general, since dragoons are basically the bread and butter of the protoss race, and it is vital to ensure they don't do the dumb things they happen to do if left unchecked. It would be harder to not find amazing dragoon micro-management clips from any well renowned protoss player, whether it is the more ancient protoss players such as Reach, Nal_rA, and Kingdom, or more recent players such as Bisu, Stork, or JangBi. I would admit to having higher micro-management demands from Bisu since I personally categorize him as more of a mechanically proficient player than a cerebral player. In fact, in terms of raw mechanical prowess, Bisu has the perfect hardware for Brood War, but most of my frustrations comes from him not being able to replicate the kind of micro-management mastery possessed by numerous protoss legends, although he indeed does have his superlative moments in terms of micro-management, they are mirrored by his catastrophic micro-management failures. Both Stork and JangBi have decent to superlative levels of micro-management for almost all protoss arsenal of weaponry, while Bisu is way more erratic, and ranges from sub-par to superlative. It would be like crowning FanTaSy as the epitome of terran micro-management just for his extra-ordinary vulture and valkyrie micro-management abilities, when the guy had serious, crippling flaws in terms of micro-management elsewhere. Bisu was a player that was held back due to his micro-management deficiencies throughout his career, especially versus the terran race. It doesn't stop just there, Bisu was indeed a god in the mirror-match-up, but even in that realm, his reaver micro-management during battles had a lot to be desired on numerous occasions, and this was one of the opportunities for slower, but more battle-focused protoss players such as Stork, or free to take advantage of that. I know I keep bringing up footballing analogies that may not register with some people, but hear me out: High eAPM figures: raw athletic ability Micro-management proficiency: technical ability with the ball Decision making in game: decision making on the pitch So if Flash was a football player, he would be the kind of player who was strong athletically, and was an absolute god at making the right decisions, being at the right place at the right time. His technique would be decent, but not the main focus of his craft. This kind of player would take a more nuanced approach to appreciate. Jaedong would be a fantastic athlete blessed with unparalleled technique on the ball, perhaps like a pre-injury Ronaldo. Not the smartest player by any means, but the combination of these two aspects made for a fantastic viewing experience, even if the actual movement on the pitch wasn't the most optimal or tactically sound. Bisu would be the ultimate athlete with unmatched speed and power, and some magical technical proficiency, but also cursed with really underwhelming technical abilities in other areas. Whether it was a devastating weakness like a horrible first touch, dribbling ability, or shooting accuracy. Imagine being able to run faster than almost any other player on the planet, and having a amazing dribbling abilities, but being cursed with the first touch, and shooting ability of a bench player. It is literally the most frustrating thing to experience. Yes, this kind of player whilst running full speed would be the most glorious thing to witness, but imagine it takes seven botched first touches out of ten opportunities to allow this spectacle to take place in the first place, or those glorious dribbling runs that go past literally everybody often ends up with a shot at an empty goal that ends up heading for the moon instead of the back of the net. I find Bisu extremely frustrating to watch at times, especially if it happens to be the micro-management side of things letting him down, since I tend to put more emphasis on that particular aspect as a spectator. However, if you wish to see a multi-tasking virtuoso at work, and are able to let some shit slide, Bisu is definitely a joy to follow. As for Light, Flash during his professional years likened him to a supercomputer due to his machine like execution of set plays on the screen. He had insanely high eAPM figures, great multi-tasking abilities, and top notch micro-management abilities. In terms of sheer overall mechanical ability, I actually rated him highest out of any terran players during his professional years, but I think Flash has superseded in that particular aspect also. I don't necessarily swoon for mechanically adept players, if their play-making abilities are not well defined. HiyA was more of a play-maker in all three match-ups, and tried to flaunt his mechanical abilities which included my personal fetish of micro-management. Light was passive as hell in the terran-versus-protoss match-up, and it didn't matter how mechanically sound he was if he never did anything with it. His terran-versus-zerg was crisp, and I dare say some aspects of his standard bionic play was superior even when contrasted versus Flash. However, I would argue that Light was a multi-tasking freak of nature like Bisu, and combined that with flawless execution in terms of micro-management, rather than trying to force pure micro-management outplays like Casy did. While I do appreciate my personal dream of seeing phenomenal micro-management being in sync with perfect multi-tasking, I also prefer a shift towards the micro-management side of things. JangBi is the perfect example of that, and Light, for all his micro-management artistry, is more of a multi-tasking monstrosity. I wish that the show-match between Light versus Bisu on Arcadia was captured on VOD. It was on a show where the new young blood of MBC Game HERO were being introduced to the audience. That game between Light and Bisu on Arcadia, where both sides basically drained all the available resources on the map in a pure battle of multi-tasking warfare, was an insane match. Light came back from a disadvantageous position, and just non-stop vulture harassed Bisu on multiple fronts, avoiding the range of defensive cannons to snipe every available probe to slowly claw his way back. On that show, his coach said that Light in a disadvantageous position had the ability to summon superlative powers. Even during his professional years, Light would have games where he would just straight-up own Jaedong in a multi-tasking warfare, and that almost never happened versus any terran players including Flash. + Show Spoiler + I don't know what happened to Light after he retired from professional play, but his multi-tasking abilities are a shadow of what they once were. In terms of pure multi-tasking ability, Light during his professional years was up there with the absolute best, now, not so much. However, I remember Light tiring his opponents through superior stamina in terms of mental focus, and slowly tearing his enemy apart with superior multi-tasking and basically jabbing his opponents to death rather than being a fantastic in-fighter who could decide the fate of the game with once in a lifetime out-play at any single moment. Again, it's a stylistic thing as well as a proficiency issue. Multi-tasking beasts are indeed fun to watch, but I much prefer those who have a micro-management out-play gene in them. A combination of both, with a heavier emphasis on micro-managament out-plays, would be ideal for me in terms of visual enjoyment. Jaedong during his prime was the closest to fit that particular bill for me. | ||
Jealous
10076 Posts
If anyone is interested in another game which in my mind is one of the best showcases Bisu's multitasking and harassment-oriented PvZ: + Show Spoiler [Bisu vs. Roro on Tau] + | ||
Dazed.
Canada3301 Posts
Light was passive as hell in the terran-versus-protoss match-up, Virtually every game of light ive ever seen he does a timing push in tvp... | ||
Letmelose
Korea (South)3227 Posts
On November 18 2017 08:08 Dazed. wrote: Virtually every game of light ive ever seen he does a timing push in tvp... Are you talking about his games as a streamer, or during his professional years? Light during his professional years was known for winning really long drawn out games where his multi-tasking abilities kicked in, or attempting awkward timing attacks that rarely worked. At the core of his nature, I perceived Light as a passive gamer without killer instincts, and someone who relied heavily on multi-tasking and late-game prowess to overcome his enemies. Which is why I did not categorize him as a play-maker, despite the fact that he had numerous failed attempts at doing that kind of a play-style, because these kind of play-making where everything hinged on one single moment, did not come to him naturally in my opinion. Would you personally categorize Light during his professional years as a great timing-attack player in the terran-versus-protoss match-up? I actually think Light brought out some of the worst qualities within him when he did all these early do-or-die moves. Mechanical proficiency, and being a good play-maker does not come in tandem. I should have said Light never did anything successfully when he tried to break his mold as a passive player, but I still believe Light was an extremely passive player who had an over-reliance on his clean late-game execution, and multi-tasking abilities, and while that alone was a frightening prospect in the terran-versus-zerg match-up, it wasn't quite enough for him to win him games in the more difficult match-up of terran-versus-protoss with any consistency, which is why he may have tried to do all his horrible-to-watch early game strategies that simply did not suit him well. | ||
Jealous
10076 Posts
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Letmelose
Korea (South)3227 Posts
On November 18 2017 12:04 Jealous wrote: Speaking of great timing attack players, have you written anything on ForGG? ^^ I would draw parallels between him and Hwasin as players who were notorious for their timing attacks. I personally think Hwasin was better at coming up with abusive builds that were designed to snipe a certain build before the game started then executing them to perfection, but he really wasn't adaptive in nature. I personally would picture Hwasin as the type to grind the exact same moves over and over again during practice in hopes that identical situation would come up during the televised games. It would explain the immaculate nature of his timings and execution. Hwasin to me is a product of painstaking preparation, and literally a sniper in all senses of the word. fOrGG was better at finding great timings within the flow of the game itself. Hwasin's style had a significant rehearsed nature about it, while fOrGG seemed to be more instinctive with his timings. Hwasin literally had builds that would straight up die to any builds that would stray from the build Hwasin intended to snipe. It would explain why Hwasin would lose terribly to Bisu, but actually did much better versus Stork, who was way more predictable with his builds. fOrGG, on the other hand, would try to make a timing happen within the game, rather than preparing a really obnoxious build beforehand. He would sense weakness at a certain timing, then strike for the kill. It worked quite well versus Bisu, who was not as solid in his style, but that worked horribly versus Stork, who would start out safe, and actually had very little timings to abuse unless you started off with a significant build advantage. Stork was someone that was somewhat who would get over-complacent at times, and would put himself into positions where he was extremely vulnerable to counter-builds (case in point, his finals versus Flash and FanTaSy where he got straight-up demolished despite having significant map pool advantage for both series). fOrGG never managed to abuse that factor, while Hwasin was able to do that. | ||
Jealous
10076 Posts
On November 18 2017 13:20 Letmelose wrote: I would draw parallels between him and Hwasin as players who were notorious for their timing attacks. I personally think Hwasin was better at coming up with abusive builds that were designed to snipe a certain build before the game started then executing them to perfection, but he really wasn't adaptive in nature. I personally would picture Hwasin as the type to grind the exact same moves over and over again during practice in hopes that identical situation would come up during the televised games. It would explain the immaculate nature of his timings and execution. Hwasin to me is a product of painstaking preparation, and literally a sniper in all senses of the word. fOrGG was better at finding great timings within the flow of the game itself. Hwasin's style had a significant rehearsed nature about it, while fOrGG seemed to be more instinctive with his timings. Hwasin literally had builds that would straight up die to any builds that would stray from the build Hwasin intended to snipe. It would explain why Hwasin would lose terribly to Bisu, but actually did much better versus Stork, who was way more predictable with his builds. fOrGG, on the other hand, would try to make a timing happen within the game, rather than preparing a really obnoxious build beforehand. He would sense weakness at a certain timing, then strike for the kill. It worked quite well versus Bisu, who was not as solid in his style, but that worked horribly versus Stork, who would start out safe, and actually had very little timings to abuse unless you started off with a significant build advantage. Stork was someone that was somewhat who would get over-complacent at times, and would put himself into positions where he was extremely vulnerable to counter-builds (case in point, his finals versus Flash and FanTaSy where he got straight-up demolished despite having significant map pool advantage for both series). fOrGG never managed to abuse that factor, while Hwasin was able to do that. Thanks! Any comments on fOrGG's title run? Still one of my favorite dark horse runs of all time in any sport or game. | ||
Shady Sands
United States4021 Posts
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kangaroo_in_diaper
3 Posts
Second, the analogy of football is definitely a long shot as there is no race in football. Thus, comparing Jaedong, Bisu and Flash using football are more or less apple vs orange, or perhaps Ronaldo vs Sergio Ramos. Finally, Flash is perfect and the perfection is indeed boring because there is nothing to expect. Flash always win, there is no surprise, which as a result makes the audience bored. More importantly, Flash is also very stable and not sloppy like any other players. In football there is a saying that "Form is temporary, Class is forever". That is also true in Starcraft. When Fantasy, Light were at their best in some matches, they might be better than Flash, but after all, it is just temporary. | ||
Letmelose
Korea (South)3227 Posts
On November 21 2017 10:08 kangaroo_in_diaper wrote: Letmelose have presented very interesting observations, and although I appreciate most of his opinions, I still think he underappreciates Flash in many ways. First, micromanagement is important in the game but at the pro level, I think it does not really matter, as all pro players already have sufficient skills to control their units in the way they want. Of course outstanding micro can sometimes get the audience stunned but in general, it is not smart to spend a large portion of APM to impress the audience. The analogy I can make is basketball. For example, height is very important in basketball, but you don't need to be too tall to play basketball. And after a certain point, height does not really matter. Yao Ming is not as great as Michael Jordan although he is much taller. Similar to height in basketball, after a certain point, I can say that micro skill does not matter at all. In case of Flash, I don't think Flash cannot micro as good as Bisu, just because he is not able to do so. Micromanagement is possible to learn and improve like any other skills by practice (our genes certainly do not know Starcraft). In case of Starcraft, micromanagement consumes APM, and Flash chooses to spend his APM on other actions rather than getting the audience stunned. At the end of the day, what really matters is winning and winning in Starcraft requires a little bit of everything. Second, the analogy of football is definitely a long shot as there is no race in football. Thus, comparing Jaedong, Bisu and Flash using football are more or less apple vs orange, or perhaps Ronaldo vs Sergio Ramos. Finally, Flash is perfect and the perfection is indeed boring because there is nothing to expect. Flash always win, there is no surprise, which as a result makes the audience bored. More importantly, Flash is also very stable and not sloppy like any other players. In football there is a saying that "Form is temporary, Class is forever". That is also true in Starcraft. Brood War is a competitive game, not a performance art. I started off the thread with the stance that nothing outside of competitive results can be considered more significant, whether it is popularity, proficiency at certain aspects of the game, or potential skill cap. I believe I stated that train of thought multiple times throughout this thread. With that being said, what I am not for, is what I perceive to be false narratives based on wishful thinking, or circular logic. What I am saying with the football analogy that being faster, and being more technically proficient with the ball are undeniably positive factors that aid a player to achieve greatness. However, being a superior player overall does not auto-matically make you faster, or haver a finer first touch than a player of lesser overall capacity. Messi was never the single greatest athlete (sprinting, stamina etc) on the planet, and although Messi during his prime was the greatest player we have seen in recent times, that doesn't mean that Messi was thoroughly complete and immaculate in every conceivable manner. It isn't blasphemous to suggest that Messi even during his prime was never the greatest athlete in terms of raw stamina, when it is undeniable that having more stamina is an asset that comes in handy. Flash being superior to other players overall speaks very little about his actual ability to manipulate his units to the very highest degree. Just like Messi was once the greatest by some distance without having a bull-like stamina. It is possible to reach a certain godlike status without being actually perfect. Flash is the closest to perfection a human has gotten at the game of Brood War, but he is far from perfect, and that is the beauty of the game. Even Flash can get better, and the fact that he loses games due getting outplayed from a micro-managament perspective counters your argument that micro-management becomes useless after a certain point. Even though no human will ever reach the theoretical skill-cap of this game, it doesn't necessarily mean we have already seen the absolute possible threshold for human capabilities. Flash is the fore-runner thus far, but you and I have very contrasting opinions of what constitutes a perfect player. If it is circular logic and menial complements for Flash that you seek, I'm sorry I am not in agreement that Flash must be perfect because he seems that way in your eyes. | ||
Shady Sands
United States4021 Posts
On November 21 2017 11:06 Letmelose wrote: Brood War is a competitive game, not a performance art. I started off the thread with the stance that nothing outside of competitive results can be considered more significant, whether it is popularity, proficiency at certain aspects of the game, or potential skill cap. I believe I stated that train of thought multiple times throughout this thread. With that being said, what I am not for, is what I perceive to be false narratives based on wishful thinking, or circular logic. What I am saying with the football analogy that being faster, and being more technically proficient with the ball are undeniably positive factors that aid a player to achieve greatness. However, being a superior player overall does not auto-matically make you faster, or haver a finer first touch than a player of lesser overall capacity. You are the one with the false narrative, mate, because you are tilting at a strawman. No one is claiming Flash has better micromanagement than other players. All we are saying is that micromanagement is not an undeniably positive factor for greatness. Micro uses APM and brainpower. Flash uses his APM for something else that's far more important - WINNING. All that matter is whatever efficient actions are necessary to WIN. Is it sometimes micro? Sure. Is it always micro? Hell fucking no. And to claim that micro is an undeniably positive factor for "greatness" is bullshit. Starcraft isn't an RPG. It's an RTS, and in an RTS, and decisions matter much more than fancy control - otherwise Flash would not have such a winning record vs nearly everyone. So that's why Flash is perfect - because he has mastered the art of good decisions, and therefore he WINS - and victory is the only objective criteria for perfection. Now please bow before God and gtfo. User was warned for this post | ||
Shady Sands
United States4021 Posts
That's perfection. And that's the only standard that matters. | ||
Shady Sands
United States4021 Posts
Flash plays as if he is omniscient and omnipotent, and forces his opponents to make mistakes. That is what I enjoy, much more than mere micro clicking. | ||
Letmelose
Korea (South)3227 Posts
On November 21 2017 16:56 Shady Sands wrote: You are the one with the false narrative, mate, because you are tilting at a strawman. No one is claiming Flash has better micromanagement than other players. All we are saying is that micromanagement is not an undeniably positive factor for greatness. Micro uses APM and brainpower. Flash uses his APM for something else that's far more important - WINNING. All that matter is whatever efficient actions are necessary to WIN. Is it sometimes micro? Sure. Is it always micro? Hell fucking no. And to claim that micro is an undeniably positive factor for "greatness" is bullshit. Starcraft isn't an RPG. It's an RTS, and in an RTS, and decisions matter much more than fancy control - otherwise Flash would not have such a winning record vs nearly everyone. So that's why Flash is perfect - because he has mastered the art of good decisions, and therefore he WINS - and victory is the only objective criteria for perfection. Now please bow before God and gtfo. I'll bring it down to your speed, if Flash was in possession of superior micro-management, he would win even more. Perfection implies no room for improvement, and you clearly have more freedom with that vernacular than I do, but you do realize that you're arguing against a straw man argument yourself, right? This is my response to a post that implied Flash had the greatest anti-air goliath micro-management out of any player. On November 15 2017 10:40 Letmelose wrote: I have never thought Flash's goliath micro-managament by itself was the greatest of all-time. Exactly what is so mechanically jaw dropping about literally dozens of fully upgraded goliaths shooting carriers down like flies? What sets apart Flash is the ability to create situations that doesn't force his hand to create miracles out his units, not the actual miracle making itself. We have other legendary players for that specific department. I'm not saying micro-management abilities alone win you games (case in point, Flash alongside numerous other legendary players who built up their legacy without godlike micro-management). Reading comprehension seems to be more urgent of an issue to you, than Flash's honour, at the moment. Try it out sometimes, it works wonders for discussion threads such as this. | ||
TaardadAiel
Bulgaria750 Posts
Аll of this is because many people - myself included, but I'm fighting it - cannot stand someone saying there's players better than Flash at *insert random skill here*. Especially something seemingly so basic for a progamer as micromanagement. He has great micro, just guys like Leta and Fantasy have stood out over the years and Nada has set a REALLY high bar. I personally think his tank leapfrogging - especially in early timing pushes - is right there with the best of them - and it's a peculiar kind of micro. I think if he has something of a RPG-element to his micromanagement, this is it. Not the Flash of old, who would just defend IMPECCABLY and then kill you with a big timing push, because he has cut just enough corners and is just that much faster on macro. He can sometimes play really, really aggressively. The game vs Bisu on Gladiator in ASL 4 semis was a showcase, I think. | ||
fko
2 Posts
On November 21 2017 16:56 Shady Sands wrote: Starcraft isn't an RPG. It's an RTS, and in an RTS, and decisions matter much more than fancy control - otherwise Flash would not have such a winning record vs nearly everyone. So that's why Flash is perfect - because he has mastered the art of good decisions, and therefore he WINS - and victory is the only objective criteria for perfection. I strongly second that! Starcraft is not a Role Playing Game. Too much micro = emphasis on the RPG aspects of the game. Starcraft is Real Time Strategy. That is: very fast and very good decisions. Split-second cost-benefit analysis on where to invest your eAPM to maximize the benefits for the next 10 minutes of the game (strategy), and not only for the next 1 minute (tactics). Flash is really treating Starcraft as Total War. By that, I mean: it is not only about the in-game execution / mechanics / etc.. It's about all the analysis and the mind-games that are done even before the actual game starts. Flash is investing a lot of time and thinking, into those "before the game" aspects of the game. He starts focusing (narrowing down) his analysis on the specifics of his potential opponents, weeks in advance. You think that when he was analyzing the game of Mind versus Rush, he was just doing that for the fans? No! He was already searching for weaknesses of Mind that he could exploit in a direct confrontation. Of course, he keeps of the details he observes to himself (not share with the fans). It's part of the preparation. It's part of the competitive advantage he builds for himself. Also, the preparation before the countdown: - he always tries to stay well hydrated and not let his glucose level drop. He knows his brain needs to perform at 100% every second of the game. - measuring his setup with the ruler. Perfect posture. Maximum focus without getting tense. Focused calm. - in bo3 or bo5, many times after a game, he gets up and out of the booth, to disconnect and refresh his mind and body. All these details add up. And at the level he is playing, he knows that you cannot overlook any detail in order to win. And not just win once. Win consistently for many years. Keep a very high level of form and performance over a long period of time. That's what being serious, professional gamer means. Do the amateur Starcraft players find all this not so entertaining? Well, put yourself in his shoes. Would you risk not winning 50 k dollars, only to make sure the fans are entertained? 3-3-3. Enough said! | ||
The_Red_Viper
19533 Posts
But implying that every aspect of his gameplay is the best out of anyone is intellectually dishonest, even if he is the best player overall. | ||
Liquid`Drone
Norway28502 Posts
The footballer analogies are on point, too. Messi is the player ever to perform at the highest ability. But he's not close to being the best at every element that makes a football player great - he's the best at the most important elements. Flash is the player ever to perform at the highest ability. But he's not the best at every element that makes a brood war player great - he's the best at the most important elements. Stating that his micro isn't the best doesn't mean 'flashy micro is the most important ability aspect of being a great bw player'. | ||
TaardadAiel
Bulgaria750 Posts
On November 22 2017 01:39 Liquid`Drone wrote: Some of you guys arguing against letmelose really seem to struggle understanding what he's saying. He's not saying that Flash should focus more on micro, or that he's bad at it, or anything like that. He's saying that there are elements of his unit control that is slightly less perfect than that of other players and that he would indeed be even better if he improved at those elements. There's nothing in that statement suggesting that it'd be beneficial for Flash to spend more of his time in game microing vultures. Even the best reaver microer in the world would benefit from becoming even better at always picking up the fraction of the second the reaver fires its scarab. The footballer analogies are on point, too. Messi is the player ever to perform at the highest ability. But he's not close to being the best at every element that makes a football player great - he's the best at the most important elements. Flash is the player ever to perform at the highest ability. But he's not the best at every element that makes a brood war player great - he's the best at the most important elements. Stating that his micro isn't the best doesn't mean 'flashy micro is the most important ability aspect of being a great bw player'. This is interesting and makes me ask another question. Flash certainly could improve on certain elements of his play, but I wonder how much of his current play is routine and muscle memory and all? After playing tens of thousands of games progamers surely have their own unique ways of doing stuff. Would it be beneficial to try and develop or adopt an entirely new way of controlling units? Or is it down to small adjustments, not a big shift? Would it be WORTH it making changes in a style of play that has him already being one of the best, if not the best, player to ever play the game? There is always obviously room for improvement, that is for certain, but can Flash afford to invest time and effort in micro when he is being successful by investing in other stuff? And I realize this is the highest possible level of play and there are adjustments that are all but invisible to most casual players, even with years of watching and analyzing pro-level Brood War. And, to be honest, I've always thought micro is a bit more unstable in terms of relying on it to win you a game. A small slip, a palm that is sweaty and mousepad that is slippery, a hotkey not working the exact tiny fraction of a second that you need it to, and you might lose the game. Remember the issue Stork had vs sSak (I think it was him) in last ASL with having a different hotkey setup loaded and having to unload his shuttles using his mouse only? I guess all aspects of pro-level play are roughly equally important, but in micro-intensive scenarios the randomness factor seems to have more weight. That may be one reason Flash is setting up his stuff with a goddamn ruler, to lessen any chance of accidental misplay due to his mouse being 1,4 centimeters to the left of where it usually is. Micro is also probably the skill that is most affected by physiological state, e.g. sickness, lack of sleep/food/water and so on. Maybe he just adapted his play as to leave as little as possible to chance and chaos. | ||
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