GSTL Finals- MVP vs Prime

With all the hype this weekend about the IGN Proleague tournament taking place in Atlantic City, the GSTL finals happening Saturday night (Korea Time) should not be missed. It’s MVP vs Prime, two teams who have stories worthy of a potential E-sports movie.

Prime came out swinging in these playoffs, relying on two of their “lesser” known players, Creator and Annyung to slay 4 members of Startale. By the time it came for Bomber to come and play, MarineKing was their waiting, fully prepared to snipe the deadly Startale Terran.

In their match against TSL, the theme of this series was “down but not out.” Sorry MarineKing, you need to give your title of the “Comeback Kid” to your teammate Creator, who ran through gauntlet of TSL’s Terran lineup and Revival to 4-kill the seemingly undefeatable TSL. Prime wins and goes to the finals.

MVP’s tale starts off with a “David vs Goliath” theme, as they take on Incredible Miracle, a team that has someone relegated to trophy cleaning duties in their house. All hope looked lost when players not named DRG could not even beat IM’s starter terran, Happy, but thanks DRG and their new protoss hero Tails, they edge out a dramatic victory against the legendary IM team.

Waiting for them in the semi-finals was New Star Ho-seo, a team who took the whole league by storm by showing dominant results in the regular season with many players not known by the scene. However, MVP is a team that just beat IM, and they were not intimated by the new kids on the block. In this series, the MVP team rode the wave on a seemingly in-form Genius, who showed brilliant play in all 3 matchups, including an exciting post 1.4 patch PvP in his final game.

Storyline of the playoffs so far? It’s the Protoss man, Genius, Creator and Tails were all the star performers in the 4 sets of matches. Even though they don’t have any representation in the main GSL tournament, at least they reppin’ in the team league -_-

Predictions-

Prime’s strength nowadays comes from their zerg lineup, BboongBboong, Annyung, and Check. Also the coach of the team has a lot of faith with these players as he had no qualms in sending them in the TSL match (but only god knows why he was feeding them to JYP, the zerg killer). Their old stars of Maka, Anypro, and Hongun are not the main players anymore, but will serve more as a sniper role. Their ace is still of course MarineKing, but Creator has shown that he has the tenacity to win against the best players in the world.

While MVP might be called a “one-man team” by many, this is far from the truth though. DRG is the ace, but he has the support to help them lead to a victory. Genius looks to be in form, Keen is a solid terran, Guinea Pig and Tails have shown promising play but their consistency can be questioned. Look for Monster and Noblesse to make a special appearance in this match, as Monster is a mini-DRG and Noblesse is Code S material.

The Clash-

It’s a tough match to call as both of these teams are so evenly matched. In the battle of the aces, MarineKing just gave DRG a smackdown in the Arena of Legends. Also the ZvT god just lost a hearbreak series against Supernova in the GSL, people might have found a chink in his armor so to speak. For MVP to win, they need someone to take down the Prime’s Zergs and for Prime to win, they need to shut down DRG’s support, Genius or Keen, and they’ll claim the championship.

Mock Bo9 series

Check vs Vampire

Keen vs Check

Creator vs Keen

Creator vs Monster

DRG vs Creator

MarineKing vs DRG

Genius vs Marineking

Genius vs Annyung

Genius vs BboongBbong

MVP takes it 5-4, yeah I’m rooting for them but realistically speaking, I think they have a small edge over Prime. Cheers for a great set of games!

The Nietzsche Toss

GSTL- When your team needs a hero, turn to your unproven Protoss Player?

MVPTails

The MVP team was worried. Their handsome terran ace Keen was outmeched by a man named Happy. The random player now Protoss player Guineapig played PvT like it was 10 months ago and massed 10+ colossus, and he watched all of them get obliterated in 10 seconds by Happy’s Viking fleet. Genius, the man who always has a proxy stargate hidden up his sleeve, lost to a 3-base bio timing attack that hit a few seconds before Genius’s Templars had storm. A maxed out bio army against gateway units with no AOE? This would even make the most hardened zealots cry.

DRG, the Terran Killer or the “EZ PZ” Zerg, comes up to bat and does work. He made Happy and Youngwha look like Platinum players, and his epic game versus Losira might have had the most Roaches produced in a professional game. His reign of terror came to an end though when IM throws out one of their final bosses (Yeah there’s two in this game) 3 time GSL winner MVP. Fearing the map for ZvT (Xel’naga Fortress), DRG executes an early roach rush that does damage, but enough damage and loses to the counter Siege Tank/Marine push that would come from MVP.

Their 4 most well-known and seasoned players have been fielded, and with MVP in the booth and Nestea looking smug on their bench, all hope looked lost for the MVP squad and their fans. The camera pans to the bench, who is it? It is….. MVPTails! Wait what? The Code A mainstay or errr player? The teams, commentators, and all the spectators wait in anticipation, will he do the impossible?

About an hour later, a Korean E-sports reporter would nickname him the “Nietzsche Toss,” because “God is Dead.” A name that I think is completely fitting of the situation.

Yes he is pouring Nestea on his head, the drink that is.

Tails showed some crafty defense to MVP’s 1/1/1 build on his against him on Crossfire. Not being flustered by the banshee focus of the IM’s terran version of this “imbalanced build.” He keeps his cool and eventually ends up winning by the work of one Phoenix in sky. MVP is known as the “Conscious Terran” in Korea for stating publicly that this build is

too strong against Protoss players, and he refuses to use it. Oh the irony of this situation.

While Nestea is certainly the best player in the world, I think he is unbeatable in a BoX format, like the GSL tournaments, but in a format like the GSTL, he is beatable but it is not an easy task. I like the build Tails used, a tricky build off a FFE that was a reaction to Nestea’s taking of the gold on Antiga Shipyard. It is Quick 5 gateway pressure that may or may not work but puts the Zerg on the defense, and forces him to make units. While Nestea was producing an absurd amount of units, little does he know that the Dark Shrine is warping for the MVP Protoss. Tails was losing his Zealot/Sentry/Stalker army so badly, but during that time he was sneaking in 3 Dark Templars into Nestea’s main base, where it was the only place that had no spore crawlers (Nestea played a macro based heavy T1 style, that got a sick amount of drones a

nd units, but no tech). Just like that Nestea lost his hatchery that was morphing into a Lair, and all of his tech structures, but this just evens the game as Nestea takes his 3^rd, and retains his macro lead though. This is just a testament to Nestea’s calibre as a player, Tails punished him hard but still has no definitive advantage.

The game becomes much more standard after this, and Tails wins the game not through some gimmicky DT runby, but just solid defense of his expansions as Nestea came with a mass Roach/Hydra drop style. Nestea probably didn’t realize how even it was as he

was trying to do some ultra-aggression T2 tech style that ran into a wall that is Tails’s Stalker/Collossus ball. He had time to tech to Broodlords and Infestors. Nestea GGs out and Tails gives much meaning to the cliché saying and Oliver Stone film, “… On any given Sunday.” Just another great day of Starcraft in the GSTL.

Sorry Zergbong, Reach is not here to carry you like in BW

Finals...

Incredible Miracle teamates Nestea and LosirA in the first ever Z v Z finals of a GSL.

Like most GSL Finals this one did not disappoint in terms of being onesided with very little doubt about who was going to win. Nestea dominated LosirA. Nestea showed some great skill and awesome play, but ultimately I had to go through yet another lopsided and 4-5 game GSL Finals where you have to wonder if the GSL is designed to showcase only the skills and strategies of one player and for the other it is like a massive month long Punk'd episode.

FXO Winning

FXOpen is the first foreign/non-Korean team to compete in the GSTL and although people were very excited about their participation, no one expected them to do very well. There was plenty of discussion of them being all killed by B or C team players and making fools of themselves. The expectations were so low, that so long as they didn't look stupid and play horrible games, it could be considered a win for the non-Korean scene.

They didn't do too well in their first few games, taking a few games, but never winning a match.

That was of course until last week, when they were matched up against Incredible Miracle, a team which has two double GSL winners, both of whom are considered to be the best in the world for Protoss and Terran. They had already lost against teams with lesser reputations and accomplishments and so there was not much hope for them winning against the powerhouse of IM.

Four games later, FXOpen was literally living and playing in a different world. qxc had been sent out as their first player and he went on to all-kill IM. Granted the first three players were not the best IM had to offer, but the fourth game was taken off of Mvp.

Here's an interview with qxc after his all-kill from TL.

*********************

Hello "Bandana Man," what do you think of your new Korean nickname?
I think it's quite touching. I've also grown rather fond of John Lennon Toto Destroyer as well as the Bandana Terran. Although if I am to continue my reign as Bandana Man I will require a new bandana sometime soon.

Interviewer's note: If someone got Qxc a fitting bandana for Anaheim, Fionn's wish for a pirate Qxc may be in the near future

What was behind the decision to put yourself out first?

With Sheth gone our options were more limited. Sending out a protoss on Bel'Shir was basically out of the question and of the three remaining players (Me/Tgun/Moonan) I felt the most comfortable on the map.

Did you expect the results that you achieved?

I don't know if expect is the right word. I had been hoping for an all kill and I had done some preparation beforehand (researching IM's likely roster and preparing ceremonies of course).

What was did it feel like when IM put out MVP for the final match? Were you nervous at all?

I went into the match aiming for an all kill. I knew that meant eventually I would be playing world class players and whatever nervousness I might have had about that I had already dealt with beforehand. At the time I felt ready to take on anyone IM had.

In all four games, you showed some extremely solid play, what would you contribute your increase in skill to?

Practicing against Koreans has helped tremendously. In order to be competitive here I needed to improve significantly. Additionally my practice regiment has become much more focused (and actually exists) which has helped me systematically iron out my problems and increase my skill.

In our very first interview, I asked how many Korean's have heard of you, and you responded "if all goes as planned, many more than before," do you feel more recognized in Korea now than before?

If the attention I've been getting online is any indication I would say that yes. Many many more Koreans have heard of Bandana Terran.

What future goals do you have for Korea?

I'd like to play in the next Code A. After that I have to return to the USA for one year of university. After that... who knows?

How did you guys celebrate your victory?

We went out and got BBQ. After that I went and worked out. Played some Diablo 2 and just generally relaxed. Our schedule has been pretty grueling and more than anything else I just wanted to take a break. Oh and I also read about 20 issues of Deadpool. That character is hilarious.

You'll be fighting your way through the open bracket of MLG Anaheim, how do you anticipate yourself doing there?

I hope to do well but there's a lot of factors that I don't have a good handle on yet. I'm not sure the best way to deal with jet lag as well as the endurance required to play for hours on end. Unlike the GSTL which I was able to test my progress in almost weekly it's been a while since I've played in a LAN tournament. With a bit of luck and my new found power level I expect I can make it quite far.

Scan the island?

Yes sir!

GSLTL

The GSL Team League starts tonight. Esta mafahan i tiket-hu, ya listo yu'!

For those who don't know what this means, the 8 best teams in Korea with players in the GSL will be competing against each other to see who is the best Starcraft 2 team in South Korea right now. All of the famous names will be on standby over the next few days and may be called forth to defend the honor of their team. The teams in question are:

The SCV Life (TSL) home to Clide, Killer, Alive, Rain and winner of GSL Season 1, Fruitdealer.

Old Generations (oGs) home to Nada, Ensnare, theWind, and winner of GSL Season 3, MC.

Startale (ST) home to July, Rainbow, Squirtle and the foreigner Torch.

Incredible Miracle (IM) home to winner of GSL Season 2 Nestea and winner of GSL Code S IMMvp.

For Our Utopia (fOu) home to Leenock, thebest, scf and choya.

Prime World Elite (Prime.WE) home to check, anypro, polt, maka and the always predictable unpredictable (2 time finalist but never champion) MarineKing.

Slayers home to really only Boxer (although training with him could make anyone badass).

And finally Zenex home to Kyrix, Byun Choa and ButterflyEffect.

I was searching online to see who people are favoring to win this Team League, and most divided the league into two tiers, with only 3 or 4 teams capable of winning the whole thing. OGS, ST and TSL were clearly favored, with IM close behind, although not for any depth of their team, but simply because they have the best Terran and Zerg on their team (although not much else after that).

For me, it's hard to pick who I think will win. I've only been following Starcraft 2 for a couple months now and don't have any real team favorites. So instead of picking the team which I like or think will win, I've decided to root for the team which I want to win, simply because everyone else thinks they can't win. I don't know much about the team Zenex, but they are my underdog choice for winning the GSLTL this week! I hope that I don't have magic powers of negativity and tragedy in the same way Artosis has, in which whatever he says will happen doesn't simply because the universe likes to make him look stupid.